﻿/****************************************************************************************
*	Mouzetrap - client/server framework	
*
*	$HeadURL: http://mouzetrap.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Mouzetrap/Configuration/IConfiguration.cs $
*	$Id: IConfiguration.cs 11 2009-06-11 09:10:25Z tobz@fallenrealms.net $
* 
*	Copyright (c) 2008 Toby Lawrence
* 
*	Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
*	of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
*	in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
*	to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
*	copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
*	furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
* 
*	The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
*	all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
* 
*	THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
*	IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
*	FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
*	AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
*	LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
*	OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
*	THE SOFTWARE.
* 
****************************************************************************************/

using System;
using System.Xml.Linq;

namespace Mouzetrap.Configuration
{
	/// <summary>
	/// Defines the interface for accessing the configuration API.
	/// </summary>
	public interface IConfiguration
	{
		/// <summary>
		/// Gets an <see cref="XElement" /> from the configuration based on an XPath expression.
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="xpathExpression">the XPath expression to select the desired node</param>
		/// <returns>an <see cref="XElement" /> representing the retrieved element, or null</returns>
		XElement GetElement(string xpathExpression);

		/// <summary>
		/// Gets a value from the configuration based on an XPath expression.
		/// </summary>
		/// <typeparam name="T">the type of the value to return</typeparam>
		/// <param name="xpathExpression">the XPath expression to select the desired node</param>
		/// <param name="value">the value to be returned</param>
		/// <returns>true if the value was found and able to be casted to the specified type; false otherwise</returns>
		bool GetValue<T>(string xpathExpression, out T value) where T : IConvertible;

		/// <summary>
		/// Sets a value in the configuration based on an XPath expression.
		/// </summary>
		/// <typeparam name="T">the type of the value being set</typeparam>
		/// <param name="xpathExpression">the XPath expression to select the desired node</param>
		/// <param name="value">the value to set</param>
		/// <returns>true if the value was set successfully; false otherwise</returns>
		bool SetValue<T>(string xpathExpression, T value) where T : IConvertible;
	}
}